After decades of doubt, speculation, and in some cases outright disbelief that the revitalization of downtown would ever become a reality, a majority of the groundwork needed to support development is in place. It is upon that groundwork that several local developers and the city of Las Cruces intend to invest upward of $60 million in new public and private projects.

One of those ventures is a project that has been incubating for some time: the former Doña Ana County Courthouse, on Alameda Boulevard between Lohman and Amador avenues. A Las Cruces developer plans to transform the historic building into the Doña Ana Hotel and Conference Center. The planned four-star property will also house restaurants, boutiques and an adventure-tour operator.

First announced in February 2014, the concept is the brainchild of Bob Pofahl, managing partner of Las Cruces Community Partners LLC. Pofahl is also a partner in the development of the 110-acre Parkridge Urban Village on the site of the former Las Cruces Country Club. He and his LCCP partners, Doug Wright, Steve Newby and Eddie Martinez, are the developers of the new downtown plaza, which is scheduled to be dedicated Sept. 17.

“The vision for the hotel is to create something similar to the Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe or the Hotel Parq Central in Albuquerque, where the building’s history is preserved throughout the redevelopment process,” Pofahl said. The property, built in 1937, will retain its designation on the state’s historic registry.

While details of the plan have yet to be finalized, proposed modifications include adding 10,000 to 20,000 square feet to the building’s existing 40,000-square-foot footprint, and the creation of 120 guest rooms and suites. Each room will utilize art, fabrics and unique doors to reflect the history of an early Las Cruces pioneer family, according to Pofahl. Also on tap are a rooftop bar overlooking the city and Organ Mountains, a swimming pool, conference center, retail space, and a spa and fitness center.

The property will be operated by La Tour Hotels and Resorts, operator of luxury boutique hotels. According to its website, www.latourhotelsandresorts.com, the company operates nine properties in the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, the Caribbean and Canada.

“The hotel will be, if not the best in New Mexico, certainly in the top three or four,” said John Small, vice chairman of the board. “It will be a superb experience for guests and residents, as well as for corporate and business travelers.”

Small estimates it will take 18 to 24 months to complete the project, at a cost of between $20 and $22 million. And the renovation is expected to await the realignment of Church and Water streets in downtown, roadwork which is scheduled to start in early 2017.

In case you were wondering what will become of the unfinished eyesore on the corner of Amador and Main, it will be redeveloped along with the hotel project as either offices or repurposed space, or it could be torn down altogether, according to LCCP. Both properties are owned by John Hoffman of El Paso.

In addition to the hotel, many other projects are slated for downtown development. The site of the former My Brother’s Place restaurant will be home to “a multi-tiered complex that will house four full-service restaurants, including fine dining, a rooftop lounge, the offices of the Las Cruces Convention and Visitors Bureau, and an event courtyard that can accommodate up to 700 or 800 people,” said Max Bower of Red Mesa Development & Design LLC, the project’s developer. The value of the undertaking is approximately $6.5 million. Demolition is scheduled to begin in two weeks, with completion anticipated in fall 2017, Bower said. The working name of the build is the Amador Project.

A companion to the Amador Project is restoration of the historic Amador Hotel. The Amador Foundation is the steward of the property, which is owned by the city and listed on the state’s historic register. To date, the foundation has raised $500,000 in private donations and $500,000 in legislative funding. Additionally, $1 million from the city has been earmarked for asbestos abatement, and $195,000 in state capital outlay money will go to repair and stabilize the interior columns.

“The additional $1 million will go a long way to completing the project,” said Heather Pollard, the foundation’s president.

Also planned is an expansion of the Bank of the West building on the corner of Main Street and Las Cruces Avenue. The bank will continue to occupy a portion of the northern end of the ground floor, with a three-story addition to the south side of the building, overlooking the new plaza. The addition will contain office space, with restaurant and retail spaces occupying the ground floor. The cost of the project is approximately $1.5 million, according to Pofahl, one of the building’s owners.

In early planning stage is a multi-use development adjacent to the plaza. Las Cruces Community Partners envisions a $12.6 million project that would provide for ground floor restaurant and retail space, with residential units on the upper floors. The time required for planning and building is approximately two years, according to LCCP. That developer is also on tap to upgrade the city-owned Camuñez building, one door south of the Rio Grande Theatre. The building, whose last occupant was the state juvenile probation office, will house a brew pub and restaurant. Renovation is estimated to be completed within 18 months at a cost $1.5 million.

Restoration of the historic Armijo House, which is listed on the state’s historic register and located adjacent to the Loretto Town Center, has been underway for more than two years. A total of $800,000 in gifts and donations have been invested to date, with more work slated. When completed, the building will be home to the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.

“We hope to be in the facility first quarter of 2017,” said Debbi Moore, president of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce. “We are committed to the project and look forward to the chamber offices being housed in such an integral part of Las Cruces history.”

Arriving at this turning point didn’t happen overnight. The city and scores of forward-thinking citizens have been exploring how to create downtown development opportunities for the better part of the past two decades. The latest round began in earnest in 2009, when the state’s first Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) was established to fund the downtown infrastructure needs that are in place today and planned for the future.

It was around that time downtown stakeholders, along with city, county and state officials, banded together with intrepid restauranteurs, retailers, nonprofit organizations and redevelopment experts to put into place the mechanisms that make today’s projects possible. Elected officials, state legislators and citizen volunteers, as well as the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership and Las Cruces MainStreet donated thousands of hours and countless resources in support of the projects, which at the time could only be imagined. And there’s more to come.

The city will soon reconfigure the Water and Church streets “racetrack” to accommodate two-way traffic, extend Water Street south to Lohman Avenue, and complete the creation of two new streets bordering the plaza. In addition, Las Cruces, Griggs, and Bowman avenues will receive facelifts.

By all accounts, the jewel that is the heart of Las Cruces is on its way to shining brighter than ever.

Downtown Las Cruces project values

At least $60 million will be plowed into downtown development over the next several years, including the following projects:

We eagerly look forward to completion of the Las Cruces civic plaza, which we believe will provide the central gathering point that is now lacking in our effort to revitalize the downtown area.

Andy Hume, the city’s downtown planning and development coordinator, said it is hoped that work will be done by the end of August.

Work slowed a bit because of the need to relocate the many electrical lines, water lines, sewer lines, cable television lines and telephone lines beneath the area where the plaza is being constructed, Hume said. But now that work is being done on the main stage, we can start to see the conversion from what was a bank drive-through to what will be an area for concerts, festivals and other community events.

The splash pad at the other end of the plaza has been installed.

Funding for the $5.6 million project came from passage several years ago of a Tax Increment Development District, which allows for taxes collected downtown to remain in the area. The board created to oversee the fund considered a number of possible project for downtown before deciding on the plaza.

While there are other projects that could have been done to enhance downtown, we believe the plaza was the right place to start. It will provide something that has been missing for decades – a reason for people to come back downtown.

We’re hopeful that the downtown plaza will do for Las Cruces what the Mesilla Plaza and the Santa Fe Plaza have done for those communities. They serve as both a destination for tourists as well as a place for the community to come together.

And, there will be plenty of uniquely Las Cruces features, such as the sundial created by Las Cruces artist Tony Pennock, with artwork by Las Cruces artists Bob Diven and Suzanne Kane.

Other work left includes reopening Griggs Avenue, between Church and Main streets, and opening the new Plaza Place, a short street that will border the east side of the plaza.

A celebration is planned for Sept. 17 to mark the opening of the plaza, Hume said. There will be a full day of activities, including local bands and Folklorico performances as well as a parade along Main Street.

Hume said there is also talk about holding “Movies in the Park” on the plaza.

“It’s been a long time coming for Cruces,” said resident Diana Cruz said. “(The plaza’s opening) can’t happen soon enough for me. The city, the residents, have deserved a place like this for years.”

Opening the plaza is just one step toward reviving the downtown area. More needs to be done to bring eating, drinking and entertainment venues to the area, as well as proving more places to live.

But the plaza can be a building block for all of those efforts. We are pleased to see the progress that has taken place, and look forward to not just the Sept. 17 opening event, but a number of events to be held there in the coming years.

Developers seek key to the ‘heart of Las Cruces’

The men, who make up the core team of the Las Cruces Community Partners (LCCP) talked square feet, completion dates and project timelines — until Martinez looked up and smiled.

“Mi Corizon,” he said softly.

Downtown, the heart of Las Cruces, is personal to Martinez, who has moved his office to the neighborhood.

It’s Mi Corizon — not any corizon.

“We’re all so extremely excited seeing what’s happening Downtown,” Martinez said. “I worked Downtown in the ‘80s — to see it coming back to life and the synergy occurring now…” Martinez’s firm, Zia Engineering, is now headquartered in the Bank of the West building, which the LCCP is renovating.

Bank of the West offices have moved into a renovated section of the first floor and the developers

Developer Bob Pofahl and architect Steve Newby lead city officials on a tour of the Las Cruces Civic Plaza construction site April 25.

are talking with potential restaurant and retail businesses about setting up operations in the remaining first floor space.

Zia and other professional firms lease second and third floor office space.

Heart of the city

Like many cities fractured by the well-intentioned urban renewal of previous decades, Las Cruces’ heart had been broken. But healing has begun with the restoration of two-way traffic on Main Street and construction by LCCP of the Las Cruces Civic Plaza on Main Street that will be dedicated 2 p.m. Sept. 17.

The plaza, Martinez said, has been a “huge catalyst” for the revitalization of Downtown Las Cruces.

The hearts of many cities remain broken, Wright commented. Downtown neighborhoods are caught in a seemingly endless chicken and egg cycle in which retailers won’t move downtown unless people live there and people won’t move downtown if no services are available.

The partners of LCCP believe they have found a way to interrupt that cycle: simultaneously building apartments and bringing in eateries and other services to attract millennial residents.

“We’re trying to make these things happen simultaneously,” Wright said, “to make it work.”

LCCP currently has 16 Downtown projects in the pipeline, Pofahl said.

LCCP forms a special entity for each project and investors are recruited for each.

Focus on Downtown living

The partners have leased with the option to purchase from the City of Las Cruces the El Paso Electric parking lot property at the intersection of Water Street and Griggs Avenue.

Newby said the partners plan to build multi-family community of studio, oneand two-bedroom units — mostly studio and one bedroom — designed to appeal to millenials and young professionals.

Andy Hume, City of Las Cruces Downtown coordinator who serves as a liaison with City departments, said the project will be the first to be undertaken in compliance with the city’s new Downtown zoning code that encourages multi-use development.

The first floor of the proposed 80-unit apartment complex will likely be small retail establishments, Newby said.

The top floor will be a 3,000 square foot club house — a gathering place with a view of the Organ Mountains.

The aim is to start construction early in spring of 2017.

LCCP plans to build some 50 or 60 additional units each year for the next five years on sites currently under option agreements, Pofahl said. The sites are scattered throughout Downtown.

Each apartment complex would house a unique amenity, such as the club house, a fitness center or a pool. Residents of all the buildings would have access to the unique amenity of all the other buildings.

“You need to have an apartment community with quality amenities,” Pofahl said. “Millenials look to sleep in their apartments and live in the community.”

Brewery, café to open Downtown

The community LCCP envisions will begin with the renovation 201 N. Main St., the former Camunez building as a hub of activity.

“One of the things research identified was the need for additional restaurant and café space Downtown,” Martinez said.

Roadrunner Brew House and the Plaza Café and Deli will occupy the space. The café will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Martinez said 201 N. Main St. will open to the placita with seating for 75 indoors and 72 outside.
He said design plans are currently being finalized.

Pofahl said the hope is to begin renovations in October.

“We hope to open by the end of the year or the first of next year,” Pofahl said. “Part of the goal is to get millenials to live Downtown and bring life to Downtown.”

Hume said the majority of previous Downtown revitalization work was carried by the City, which worked on infrastructure.

“It is not the role of City to do projects,” he said. “There is a good separation of roles. While the city does public infrastructure, private investment is coming on board now and we will start to see the vision City Council had 12 years ago really take shape.”

Alta LeCompte can be reached at lecompte. alta@gmail.com or 575-343-7478.

U.S. News & World Report features Las Cruces as one of three top retirement cities in the US

A Nov. 20, 2015 article from US News & World Report is confirming what we already know about Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is among the top retirement cities in the United States.

“If you’re looking for a city still undiscovered by the masses, the following three cities have all the hallmarks of being the perfect place to retire.”

The article goes on to state that Las Cruces is one of three cities poised to surpass Tucson, Arizona, Palm Bay, Florida, and other popular retirement cities in popularity among Baby Boomers and other retirees.

The report credit President Barak Obama’s designation of the new Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks national monument as one of the most appealing new elements of this small-town community.

Low cost of living and a reasonable median home price are two more great features mentioned in this report.